Musings of a Hufflepuff
by Tine
Summary: Cedric Diggory's story


Musings of a Hufflepuff  
  
Summary: I was a Hufflepuff. I was a seeker. I had a beautiful girlfriend. I had a strict father. My age was seventeen. My name was Cedric Diggory.  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters you're going to read about. JK Rowling is the fabulous creator of all things Harry Potter. So please don't sue me. I'm broke and this is just a fanfic.  
  
Author's Note: I love Cedric Diggory. He's adorable, nice, sweet, funny and cool. What's not to love about him? This idea came to me while I was thinking about a scene from the fourth book. Since Cedric isn't a very big character, like Harry, there's a lot of room to shape and arrange his background. And I sat down with my notebook and began to write this. Lots of it just flew on to the page, from the deep recesses of my mind. I barely even knew some of these thoughts and possibilities existed in my brain. But now that they've become known to me, I plan to take full advantage of them.  
I just wanted to do something that I would remebered for. People would talk, years after, about how brave and amazing I was. I'd have children I could tell impressive stories to. People would say, "Cedric Diggory - the bravest, smartest, wittiest man I ever knew".  
  
I really wanted my father to say those words. From the moment I first started school, I wanted to make him proud of me. But Amos Diggory was not an easy man to please. He was always on my mind. Most teenage boys thought about girls, school, food or sex. I thought about my girlfriend a lot, but not nearly as often as I thought about my father and his message. The one that he'd imprinted on my mind.  
  
When I beat Harry Potter at Quidditch, my father was very glad. Not proud, just happy. His son had beaten the Harry Potter. But even my father couldn't deny that it was only because the boy had fallen off his broomstick during the game. Of course, he only said that when I was around. In front of everyone else, I'd beaten the Boy-Who-Lived.  
  
When the Triwizard Tournament was started up in my seventh year, I figured it was my big chance. So I put my name in the goblet of fire, and dreamed of Professor Dumbledore reading out my name when it came back out.  
  
And it did. I was happier than I had ever been in my entire life. I walked through that door after Fleur Delacour with my heah held high. And then Harry Potter's name came out too. Suddenly there were two Hogwarts champions, but of course Harry was the most important one. Although my father was happy, he still wasn't proud of me. I blamed Harry for that. I should have been the only champion. He was fourteen, and I was seventeen. It didn't make any sense.  
  
There was an age barrier. How could he have gotten past it? Had an older student put his name in for him? But no, Harry said he hadn't put his name in it, or asked a student to do it. And I'll tell you, he looked so shocked, I believed him. He really had no idea how his name had gotten into the goblet. But I still had my doubts.  
  
I had a girlfriend. Cho Chang. We'd been dating for quite awhile. But I never told her anything about myself, which annoyed her sometimes. But I just didn't want to tell her anything about my life. Who cared if my father had beaten me when I was younger? What did it matter if he put me down so much it was worse than the beatings? It mattered to Cho, but I still didn't say anything.  
  
The first task. I searched library books day in and day out for what could possibly be the first task. For weeks on end . And then Harry told me it was dragons. At first I didn't believe him, but then I saw he looked absolutely terrified. The first task was dragons! No doubt about it. Then I had to do so much research. I had to look and look for a way to get something the dragon would be guarding. Because according to Harry, we each got one to go up against. What was I going to do?  
  
I asked my father for help, but all he did was say how angry he'd be if I didn't get the highest marks in it. He wouldn't tell me what to do. How come Harry knew the task was dragons? Who had told him? All I knew was, that wasn't quite fair. But at least I knew what I was going into.  
  
I asked Cho for help, and she was the one who gave me the idea to get past the dragon. She was so good to me. She never even asked me about myself, even though I knew she was curious. She was a wonderful girlfriend, and I loved her so much.  
  
I did all right in the first task. But Harry did wonderfully. My father was furious with me. Told me I should have tried flying like Harry had. But I'd been so stressed out about it, the thought hadn't even occured to me.  
  
The teachers announced a Yule Ball for fourth years and up. I wrote my father, telling him I was going with Cho. He was pleased with my selection. But he was still cross with me for not doing well enough in the first task, and he still called me a failure.  
  
To be honest, I was terrified of him. He used to beat me. But when I went off to school, he stopped doing that, and began telling me that I was born a failure. But even more so, that I'd die a failure. And I believed him. He was my father. It was all I knew.  
  
The Yule Ball was great. I went with Cho, Harry went with Parvarti Patil in his year, Fleur Delacour went with the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain, Roger Davies, and Viktor Krum went with Harry's own best friend, Hermione Granger. They're the only couples I remember.  
  
At the end of the night, Cho and I made love. It was the most special thing I'd ever done and I was so glad it was with Cho. They were the most wonderful moments of my life. I told Cho I loved her and she said that, although she was only fifteen, she loved me and was so glad I was her first. I was glad she was my first. We grew closer and closer.  
  
The second task came along. I figured out that I had to listen to the egg under water, and told Harry about it. I figured it was only fair to do it, and Moody, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, told me it was a good idea. Harry stayed to make sure all the hostages were rescued, while I just grabbed Cho and left. I felt like a heartless bastard.  
  
Things began to get very different. I decided to ask Cho to marry me. She was young, so I said that when she graduated, we could get married and live together. She said yes and we were engaged.  
  
Meanwhile, I was training hard for the last task. It was a maze, and of course there would be obstacles. I could only imagine how dangerous it would be. Cho helped me out. She was brilliant. I never forgot what a wonderful person she was, not even when I was in the maze, up against Hagrid's blast-ended skrewts.  
  
The maze was quite a journey. I ran through it, fighting off all the creatures I came across. I could tell I was getting toward my goal and suddenly I was attacked from behind. It was Viktor Krum. Harry came to my rescue... of course. But I was thankful. Without him, Krum probably would have finished me off right there. Not that it mattered much anyway.  
  
Hary and I set off in different directions. The creatures I fought after that have been erased from my memory. The next thing I remember is seeing Harry battling with a large spider. I rushed forward to help him and when we finally destroyed it, I turned to find it right there. The Triwizard Cup. Practically within my grasp. Harry lay on the ground, wounded. Broken leg, I think.  
  
He talked lots of rubbish about how I deserved the cup and how I should take it. I was so tempted to grab it. The honor of my father, my girlfriend and Hufflepuff house was on me. But I couldn't. The sight of Harry on the ground, looking pathetically worn out, was heart-shattering. This was the conqueror of You-Know-Who. His broken leg was the only thing keeping him from the cup.  
  
I told him to take it. He flat out refused. He looked like he was going to burst with anger. He wanted me to take the cup. But that didn't matter to me anymore. All that mattered was getting out of that stupid maze. Suddenly, I just wanted to see Cho's face again. The tournament wasn't important. Cho was. Yet Harry just wouldn't take it. Instead, we both took it. We put our hands on the cup at the same time.  
  
That was when we were transported somewhere else. The cup was a portkey? It was certainly the strangest situation I'd ever been in. Standing with Harry Potter in what looked like a cemetary. Truth be told, I was scared. So I suggested taking our wands out. Didn't make a difference in the long run.  
  
A whisper from the night spoke the words that would change my life. Or rather, end it.  
  
Kill the spare.  
  
Me. That's all I've been my whole life. The spare Hufflepuff, the spare champion, and now the spare life. Because that was when the death curse was whispered at me. And then the ground came rushing at me. The breath was knocked from my throat, the life from my body. I was thoroughly dead. My last thought?  
  
Finally.  
  
Horrible? Definitely. But, wherever I am now, it's more peaceful than there. Yes, I miss Cho and Harry. I miss all my friends and all my teachers as well. But at least I'm free from that burden my father placed on me. Because I don't miss my father. Not a bit. He made too many mistakes along the road. I miss my mother, though, and I pity her for being stuck alone with Amos Diggory for the rest of her life.  
  
There are a few things that've been left unfinished. I feel sad becase I never got to say goodbye to Cho. And I wonder what happened to Harry after I was killed. He's obviously not dead, or I'd see him by now. Or maybe.... maybe he's too special to see me. Maybe he died and he's with God right now. Where is God? I don't see or hear him. Nor do I feel him.  
  
Will I be remembered? I kind of hope not. What have I to be remembered for? Dying courageously? How do you die courageously? I died, that's it. I hope Cho lives on. She's not yet ready to leave the earth. She must still dazzle everyone else with her charm and kindness. I've experienced it and I hope other people will too. Because Cho Chang is an omnipotent being.  
  
In the end, I died a failure. Just like my father said I would. Glad I'm not around to see him gloat. Or whatever he did when he found out I'd died. I'm a failure. That's all right. Can't be too long until my father joins me.  
  
  
  
Well, that turned into a monster of a musings fic. I was expecting about five hundred words.... not almost two thousand. I love Cedric! This was terribly hard to write, as I truly don't think these things about him. It's just his pathetic little mind believing what he wants. I simply wrote it.  
  
I know... Cho's only fifteen! But I'm ridiculously fed up with the fanfics where Cho is a bitch. In this fic, she's quite the heroine. She may seem slutty, but it's not like she had sex with someone before Cedric. And, girls, if Cedric Diggory threw himself at you, would you object? How about Draco? THAT'S more like it! :)  
  
I hope I did a good job. Please excuse any errors I may have made within the Goblet of Fire. Obviously this entire fic was inspired by the book. But I don't have the book with me, so I can't check for the the dialogue between Harry and Cedric at some points. Hope it's not too horrible. Sorry. Take care, all! Ciao!  
  
As always, R&R!  
  
Tine 


End file.
